


Shades of Evil

by NocturneGreyhound



Series: RWBY [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Aftermath, Battle, Death, Gen, Original Character Death(s), Team, Team Dynamics, cremation, dust - Freeform, faunus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-03
Updated: 2014-03-03
Packaged: 2018-01-14 10:29:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1262917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NocturneGreyhound/pseuds/NocturneGreyhound
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Meet the team after an intense battle with an atypical enemy.</p><p>Set-up for a Rose^2 story arc.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shades of Evil

Ruby looked down at the body below her. Blood spattered her shoes and her scythe, and more kept oozing from his wounds, making a lukewarm pool by her feet. Still panting from the fight, she turned to locate her team- Yang and Blake were leaning on each other, limping their way to her, and Weiss recovering on one knee, leaning on her rapier, dust containers fully spent.

The destruction was immense. Its a good thing this area was abandoned-- rooftop after rooftop was caved in, cracked from ice and fire and dented from assorted blades. 'All this for one man.' Ruby looked to the corpse again- her first living victim. Unlike the creatures of Grimm, the blood of living men(or in this case, faunus), does not change to flower petals.

His one remaining cat ear stands alert, its tan the only part of him not defiled by his life force. His dark hair caked onto his face, short enough that his face, relaxed in death, was fully visible. His entire body was raked with cuts and burns. Where his shirt was torn, a perfect imprint of Yang's fist was starting to show up as a vibrant purple. His torso was a contorted mess- the entire ribcage had collapsed from the blunt side of Crescent Rose being driven into him from fifty feet above. Weiss had frozen him in place when he hit the ground from a previous clash, giving Ruby time to jump from higher ground, riding her scythe(in a technique adapted from Nora's) and hit him full-on. By the time Ruby had stood back up after impact, he was no longer breathing.

She looked at Crescent Rose, and was proud to see no dents from the ride and hardly a scratch in the paint. But for some reason, it felt warmer than usual. Ruby frowned and placed her hand along the blade. Not an uncomfortable heat...just...warm. She was so engulfed with this new turn of events she didn't hear Blake and Yang approaching.

"Why did it have to be like this?" Blake said, her voice filled with regret. Ruby quickly put her weapon away, dismissing it as warmpth from the rounds she fired and the adrenaline of the fight. She took a better look at her two teammates, still using each other for support. Yang's hair was caked in dried blood, her nose was bleeding and her left eye was blackening. Blake looked exhausted, and she was clutching her right arm like it was broken. Blake sighed and continued, squatting down beside him before continuing, "He could have done so much good..." She trailed off, and reached out with her good arm to close his lids for the last time. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she quickly stood to hide them. She would have fallen if Yang hadn't caught her. Both weakly standing, Yang wrapped her arms around the faunus, offering her beaten body as refuge, the same way she used to hold Ruby after a bad day.

Ruby turned to find Weiss already approaching, sword sheathed and one arm supporting her slender back. Her normally perfect skin was grimy with sweat and dirt, both knees bloodied and starting to ruin her white stockings. She stood next to Ruby, looking down at the man they had hunted for months now. Ruby wondered if she was thinking about everything they had learned about him in their pursuit. How his favorite food was Maple Salmon, how he loved long walks in the rain. How he was raised by his older brother- orphans on the streets, and how he watched his brother die for no crime other than being born a faunus. How he turned to crime and worked from a thug in street gangs to the leader of a full time mafia, strong enough to wage war on those he deemed guilty for his brother's death. And how, even after his ring had disbanded, no matter where he ran there was always someone willing to harbor him.

"Finally," Weiss exhaled before looking up at Ruby, "Now what?"

"Um," Ruby was caught off guard; a plan for 'next' had never even been considered. "Well, first we need rest and medical attention...and the body..."

She looked up and glanced around at her teammates- "No matter what he did, he deserves better than being left for the Grimm." To her relief she was met only with silent nods. Yang turned her head so she could talk and not be yelling in Blake's ear-

"We're all too tired for a proper burial, but I have some fire dust left." She loosened one of her gauntlets. "If Weiss can spark it..." She looked at Weiss, asking if the girl had enough energy to cast a rune.

Weiss nodded solemnly, "I can do one more." She paused and looked down. "What should we do with his weapons? They won't burn." Ruby looked at the piece the man was still holding- a large butterfly knife with a breakaway tip, filled with dust- a twisted kind of dust-bomb that detonated three seconds after being embedded in an opponent's flesh. The other part to his weapon lay across the roof, flung away during their fight.

Ruby slowly broke away from the group and walked over to it. She inspected it carefully before picking it up. It was the same as the other piece, except for a small notch in the handle where the two could connect in a cross to act as a crossbow. Making her way back she gave her reply, "Well, normally I'd say to give it to the next of kin, but under the circumstances..." She bent to retrieve the other half from his loosened grasp. She stood back up to talk face-to-face, "Under the circumstances I think it belongs to his Family." (*referring to his gang)

There was a chorus of small nods and Yang gave Blake one last squeeze before breaking away to spread her dust. Weiss and Blake slowly walked to the next roof over- slowly only because the other person needed it- while Ruby waited for Yang to empty her canisters. There wasn't much dust, but it would have to do. The sisters walked back to the others, before turning back. Weiss took a step forward and pointed, creating her characteristic white rune. It flashed to red and flames jumped into being, sending up a small cloud of red smoke. It wasn't long before the fire fully engulfed the body. The girls turned and started the journey back to civilization.

 

 

-end chapter one-

 

*and then three ursa come flying out of nowhere and easily eat the three exhausted and injured girls. The End*

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully there actually _will_ be more chapters. Eventually. I have an idea of where I want to go with it, but...yeah, ya'll know how fics just get dropped. I'll try not to. ...maybe.
> 
> No romantic relationships in this one. Well, kinda. But not really. And it looks so much shorter on here than it did in my notepad... And sorry-not-sorry for the OC. Since he's dead, I hope you'll forgive me. But enough 4am ramblings from me. 
> 
> Enjoy. Comment. Be happy. Love yourself. All that jazzzz~~


End file.
